American Taste & Tradition
America's first European colonists encountered a continent already peopled
with native food cultures and traditions, but they brought their European
tastes and food conventions with them.

Although there were plenty of edible plants and animals
here, American colonial food remained grounded mainly in British traditions
until well into the 19th centurydominated by meats and
breads, with very little use of fruits and green vegetables.

American food began to distinguish itself from its European
and British origins at the end of the 18th century, as the
young nation developed its own cultural, political, and domestic traditions.
Soon, American cookbooks would reflect the use of bountiful native ingredients,
such as corn, squash, and cranberries.

Until the last decades of the 19th century,
most American cookbooks emphasized practicality and economy over luxury
and elegance. The often primitive conditions of rural and frontier life
demanded a survivalist approach to cooking and domesticity. Toward the
end of the century, however, food habits came to reflect the countrys
growing prosperity, with an increasing interest in French cooking, elegant
entertaining, and fine dining.